Many types of bidirectional power switches have already been provided. Such switches are for example used in a series connection with a load to be powered between terminals of provision of an alternating current (AC) power supply voltage (for example, the mains voltage), to control the power supplied to the load.
Among known bidirectional power switches, triacs, which are very common and have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, can be mentioned. A triac is however limited in that its control terminal only enables to control its switching from the off state to the on state, the switching from the on state to the off state occurring naturally when the current flowing through the triac falls below a threshold.
Various solutions based on MOS or bipolar transistors have further been provided to form bidirectional power switches controllable to be turned on and to be turned off. Such switches are however relatively expensive. Further, the control of such switches may require relatively complex circuits.
A bidirectional power switch controllable to be turned on and to be turned off has further recently been provided by the applicant in article Rizk et al., “A vertical bidirectional bipolar power switch (BipAC) for AC mains applications”, 16th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE'14-ECCE Europe), 2014 (incorporated by reference). The structure and the operation of such a switch will be described in further detail hereafter in relation with FIG. 1.
There is a need for a bidirectional power switch controllable to be turned on and to be turned off, this switch overcoming all or part of the disadvantages of existing switches.